note 97341 deleted from control-structures.alternative-syntax by danbrown

Note Submitter: mulllhausen ---- the following may be helpful to someone: <?php //the alternative syntax for 'if' must always evaluate to a single value: $res = (true ? 'yes' : 'no'); echo $res; //note that it is not necessary to assign the value to a variable, you may do whatever you would normally do with a value: echo (true ? 'yes' : 'no'); //or: if((true ? 88 : 99) > 90) echo 'number is above 90'; else echo 'number is below 90'; //note also that the brackets are not necessary: $res = true ? 'yes' : 'no'; echo $res; //furthermore it is not neccessary to do anything with the resulting value: true ? 'yes' : 'no'; //this seems a bit useless until you consider that it can also be used to assign values to variables: true ? $var = 'yes' : $var = 'no'; echo "var is $var"; //which only works because it is equivalent to $res = true ? $var = 'yes' : $var = 'no'; //ie $res = $var = 'yes'; //which is fine. note however that true ? echo 'yes' : echo 'no'; //causes syntax errors since it is effectively trying to do: $res = echo 'yes'; //which is obviously not allowed ?>